So I’ve been planning on doing a thing on black metal cover songs for a long time but never got around to it, and by this point I’m sure there are some on my original mental list that have slipped my mind. But here is at least part one (there’s no Bathory on here, for starters. Mainly because I’d have done Emperor’s cover of A Fine Day To Die but I wanted to do the Mercyful Fate cover).

My personal favorite covers tend to be those in which a band puts their own spin on the original, incorporating new sounds into an old song, so that’s what I’ve tried to stick with here. And so without further ado, some personal favorite black metal covers of mine in random order!

Emperor – Gypsy (Mercyful Fate cover)

I remember reading in The Slayer Mag Diaries that Metalion didn’t like this cover, I think because of what Emperor did with the keyboards. But the added keyboards give the song that symphonic and majestic feel that is distinctly Emperor, laid over the straightforward, traditional metal of Mercyful Fate, and personally, I think that’s what makes it fantastic. Well, that and Ihsahn singing falsetto.

Watain – Watain (VON cover)

HERE IS. WHERE HE KILLS. Watain’s cover of the song from which they took their name is great fun, not least of all because Von sounds absolutely nothing like Watain has ever sounded a day in their lives. It’s always a good time to hear a band play something completely out of their ordinary style, and I’m less likely to get all whimsical and teary-eyed like I do when Watain covers Dissection.

Shining – I Nattens Timma (Landberk cover)

By all means, if you do not know Landberk’s original of I nattens timma, you ought to get out there and listen to it. It is, I think, actually creepier than Shining’s cover, with a more music-box feel to it and creepy flutes. However much I really like the original, though, I absolutely adore Shining’s version, which is how I fell in love with Niklas Kvarforth’s clean singing voice.

Dissection – Elisabeth Bathory (Tormentor cover)

There is literally nothing about Dissection covering Tormentor that isn’t cool. Of course, Jon Nödtveidt will never sound like Attila in the opening voice over, and Dissection’s approach to the song is, unsurprisingly, not as atmospheric or low-fi as the original. But rest assured, they’ve certainly Swedish-ized it, and only in the best possible way.

Thorns – Cosmic Keys to My Creations and Times (Emperor cover)

Thorns’ cover of Emperor’s Cosmic Keys is totally weird, and completely wonderful. It’s all the Emperor riffs you love, but slowed down to doom speeds and with a spoken-word voice over rather than the shrieks of the original. Slow-building and immensely heavy with a steady, almost tribal-sounding drum beat in the background, Thorns’ creepy, apocalyptic-feeling approach to the track is proof of how lucky we are that Samoth and Snorre were kicking around in the same prison for a bit.

Agalloch – Kneel to the Cross (Sol Invictus cover)

I remember seeing Agalloch play this live and being shell-shocked, because at the time I hadn’t heard the original, but I had studied medieval lyric poetry, and all I could think of was this. Anyway. That’s weird. Both versions are fantastic, of course, but it’s interesting how Agalloch’s blackened version seeps the hopefulness out of the original.

Melechesh – Babylon Fell (Celtic Frost cover)

Melechesh’s cover of Babylon Fell adds a Mediterranean flair to Celtic Frost’s blistering original. The drums in particular are really cool on this track, with the syncopated drumbeat shifting slightly away from the original. Likewise, they use several different vocal techniques, making for some interesting layering (I am, unsurprisingly partial to the shrieks). And of course, there’s some sitar in there as well, lending this cover an Eastern feel that complements the title and lyrics.

Dimmu Borgir – Burn in Hell (Twisted Sister cover)

Okay, so this is once again me posting Dimmu post-them being acceptable to a lot of black metal people, but once again, I don’t care. They covered Twisted Sister, and Burn in Hell at that, and it’s fun as shit, and ICS Vortex is as on par here as he ever is.

Limbonic Art – De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas (Mayhem cover)

Limbonic Art’s symphonic take on De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas is super cool- the vocals are inspired by Attila’s while still having an original flair to them, and the added keyboards give the song an eerie, almost gothic effect, complementing the original beautifully while still maintaining its own sound.

Celtic Frost – In the Chapel, In the Moonlight (Dean Martin cover)

I didn’t realize that this song was a cover until just recently. Now that I realize that it’s not only a cover, but a Dean Martin song, I find that not only awesome but also hilarious. This can also go into the list of Totally Metal Songs to Play at Your Wedding, which is now also going to be a list because I just thought of it. Celtic Frost also definitely put their own spin on this one, considering that it, uh, does not sound like Dean Martin.

So there you go! That’s a start of a list, at least, and probably needs more added to it, so don’t be surprised if there’s a part two lurking in the future. I’m working up a review of the Metal Threat Fest Warm-Up Show with Destroyer 666 (!) as well as some other things, but the posts might be more sporadic over the next couple of weeks while I finish up the summer session of school.

Well, it’s that time of year again, when everyone starts pairing off in preparation for the annual spring mating season, which may or may not come to Minnesota this year considering that within the past couple of days we have plummeted into a second ice age. I will be spending MY Valentine’s day with some Schell’s Chimney Sweep and some retro sci-fi flicks, along with mini bundt cakes that my sent me in the mail. Which is really just as well.

Image from fuckyeahmetalecards on tumblr.

But since nothing says “I love you” like a heaping pile of noisy extremity, I decided that I would post a playlist today for all your Valentine’s needs. So without further ado…

#11. Iron Maiden- 22 Acacia Avenue

For all the lonely hearts out there, Charlotte’s gotcha covered.

#10. Bathory- Woman of Dark Desires

Who knows how far Ms. Bathory’s desires went beyond bathing in the blood of virgins?

#9. Ghost- Monstrance Clock

Let’s play the word association game, boys and girls!

#8. Mayhem- Necrolust

Yeah, ok. So that’s pretty self-explanatory.

#7. Cannibal Corpse- Fucked With a Knife

You know. If you’re into that sort of thing.

#6. The Devil’s Blood- Cruel Lover

“I am the sound of the whip, and the pleasure of slaves…”

#5. Anal Cunt- I Respect Your Feelings as a Woman and a Human

Ah, romance.

#4. Gorgoroth- Unchain My Heart

Every time I hear this song or see the title, I’m reminded of the following, which was a big hit back when I was in junior high.

#3. Marduk- Bleached Bones

You know, in case you want some more necrophilia.

#2. Carcass- Microwaved Uterogestation

“Genital Grinder” is the obvious choice here. But you have to admit there’s something romantic about “Microwaved Uterogestation,” too.

So I have been reading Dayal Patterson’s Black Metal: Evolution of the Cult when I have downtime, which unfortunately is not often enough. It’s a fantastic book for a number of reasons, which I will go into when I do a review of it, which will happen when I’ve finished it. One of it’s greatest features, however, is how many bands it covers that don’t get talked about in these huge black metal compendiums (Gehenna, Lifelover, Graveland, and Von, to name a few). While I’m only about a quarter of the way through the book, I have already learned several things that I did not know before about bands that I either have come to realize I know very little about, or that I thought I knew everything about. For instance:

1) When Tom G. Warrior of Celtic Frost was growing up, his mother was a diamond smuggler and would leave him for weeks at a time when he was a small child. She later had a complete breakdown, and little Tom had to live in filth and destitution in a house with over 90 cats. There was no other family around for him to go to, and everyone in the town knew about his circumstances and did nothing. This living hell created the anger that fueled Hellhammer, and is a big part of why Tom G. Warrior doesn’t like to talk about his early band (36-37).

2) Von was sort of more of a legend than a real band, as they were originally only around for about five years. They never had any real output during that time; their demo stuff was later leaked, and they had no idea they were huge celebrities in the underground. They have like three albums called Satanic Blood (113-115).

3) Beherit is from Lapland. They win the award for trvest place to live (117). Also, Nuklear Holocausto, Beherit’s vocalist, is really into Buddhism and other Eastern philosophies (121).

4) Master’s Hammer inverted an entire church on the front of their Finished demo (101)! Also, the title of their latest album, Vracejte konve na misto, was taken from a sign in a Czech graveyard and means “put watering cans back in their place.” Which means that J’s jokes about the album being about gardening are not entirely off the mark (106).

5) And last, but certainly not least, the thing that I, the fangirl who believed that she knew just about everything there is to know about Mayhem, learned is: Necrobutcher was responsible for the vocals on Pure Fucking Armageddon, not Euronymous (132). (Blown. Away. Bigger geeks than me have always thought it was Euronymous.)

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That’s what I have for now. I’m incredibly excited to keep reading this book, and I will write a full review once I’ve done with it. In the meantime, I think it’s time to change up my blog tagline.